Now defunct social network Friendster trended on social media platform X after users of Meta-owned applications were logged off of their accounts.
Last night, many found themselves in panic as people suddenly could not access their accounts on applications owned by Meta such as Facebook, Instagram, Threads, and WhatsApp. According to the tracking website Down Detector, there was an outage among the applications that affected users all over the globe.
Following this development, internet users took to X to voice out their thoughts and concerns about the matter. Amidst all the chatter, many had begun to talk about Friendster, causing it to trend on the platform.
Some users have reminisced about their accounts on the defunct platform and had jokingly called for its return as Facebook, its known competitor, was inaccessible at the time. Some users went on its official webpage and were surprised to still see it live but without any of the functions it once had.
Friendster was a social network launched in 2003 by computer programmer Jonathan Abrams and was considered one of the top online social network services at the time. Following Facebook’s rise in popularity, Friendster’s traffic began to decline, eventually leading to its repositioning as a social gaming site before shutting down indefinitely in 2015.
While Friendster Inc., the company handling the platform, closed down in 2018, the site was reactivated in October 2023 as Friendster Labs Inc. now owned it. However, it only led to a webpage with an announcement about its eventual return along with an entry box for people to enter their email addresses to get early access.
“A new era of personalized networking. Bringing it back to the people. Rediscover the enchantment of the early social network era, now rejuvenated with a contemporary twist. Friendster is better than ever and for the people,” the statement on the website read.
Further announcements regarding the reactivation of Friendster’s social network services have yet to be made.
The outage of the Meta-owned applications lasted for two hours on March 5. As of writing, Meta has not released any statements regarding the global outage.